Roots
by Serena B
Summary: A new threat brings old friends together again on Gaea. A new generation learns about the past.


AN: First off I'd like to say how much I really hate the crappy formatting here. Anyway, this is a new and (hopefully) improved version of Finding Her Roots.

Standard Disclaimer: Escaflowne and it's characters do not belong to me; I'm merely borrowing them. Any other characters are from my own imagination.

Prologue 

_It started with an earthquake, then everything was thrown into darkness. The world itself seemed to be turning against them. Many of them died that day from the collapsing buildings, even more from the suffocating ash. Some of them even drowned in the sea as they tried to flee the burning land. _

'_What have we done to deserve this?' they cried to their gods. They couldn't understand why this was happening to them._

_A soft feminine voice rose above the chaos answering their cries. 'We are being punished. Our leaders are dead, killed by their greed and thirst for power. We have aspired to be as the gods and now they are having their revenge on us.'_

_They had gathered in a cave for shelter, the few that had survived the angry sky raining hot ash and rocks down upon them. They clutched at each other in their fear. 'What can we do?'_

_The High Priestess was silent for a moment before answering. 'If the gods grant it we may create a new world; a place where we can start again.' She paused, a distant look burning a fire in her pale blue eyes. 'However, our punishment is not yet over. We shall be as outcasts on this new planet and men shall rule over us as we have tried to rule over them. This is the only way we can survive.'_

_Some cried 'Never!' while others rejoiced that there was hope for survival. They cried and argued amongst themselves and for a moment the destruction and devastation outside was all but forgotten._

_She held up her hand for silence and continued in her quiet voice. 'You must understand, these are our only options. Either we flee and become exiles, or we remain here to perish with the rest of our kin.'_

* * *

Two figures looked into the darkened room where the children were imprisoned.

"We created this world, now look at us; there are hardly any pureblood Draconians left on Gaea." He made a short sound of disgust. "Breeding with those pathetic humans; mixing their inferior blood with ours, this is where it has gotten us."

The girl beside him winced at the anger in his voice as she surveyed the scene in front of her with growing horror.

"This is wrong," she said quietly. "What you are doing is wrong—"

The rest of her words were cut off when she received a sharp slap across the face. She tumbled to the floor with the force of the blow, blackness threatening to close in around her. Blinking several times to try and regain her bearings, she felt a small trickle of blood begin to run from the corner of her mouth. Suddenly, she felt hands grasp her upper arms bruising her tender flesh as she was roughly hauled to her feet.

"Little fool!" He shook her as if to emphasize his words. "Our people are dying yet you choose to sympathize with the enemy!"

"I do not see them as such," she whispered. Despite his violence towards her she refused to back down.

He growled his frustration. "Then you do not see anything." He dragged her towards the door unbolting it with one hand as he held her firmly against the wall with the other. When the door opened he all but tossed her into the darkened cell.

"Maybe this will change your thoughts, Mynnira," he hissed before locking her into the room.

Her eyes strained in the dim light as they focused on his figure walking away from the large viewing window. He hesitated for a brief second but continued onward without looking back.

Mynnira closed her eyes, wincing at the pain. _How could I have been so blind? Lotarrin…why?_

The room was cold and the children huddled together for warmth, the younger ones drew back from her in fear while the older children eyed her with suspicion. She sat down and leaned back against the wall farthest away from them. She tore a bit of material off of the sleeve of her gown and gingerly wiped the blood from her face, wincing when she brushed against the sore flesh that was quickly becoming a bruise. She could already feel some swelling along her left cheek.

Mynnira had been surprised when he hit her, she suspected that her brother had a temper but she never would have thought he'd lash out with such violence. For all that they had grown up together he had been a stranger to her these past six years. They had been raised in a small Draconian settlement deep in the forest covered mountains of Fanelia. There were similar sparsely populated Draconian villages hidden throughout Gaea. He had left their home there abruptly the summer when she had turned twelve and she hadn't seen him again until recently. Two colors ago he had shown up at her doorstep as suddenly as he had left but he wasn't the same Lotarrin she had known as a child. How he had come to have such hatred was beyond her; it wasn't so very unusual for Draconians to disguise their heritage and leave the settlements choosing to live among the humans. After all, is that not what he had been doing these past years? And their own great-aunt, their grandmother's younger sister, had done so long before they had been born. Their grandmother was a prophetess among their people and she had seen her little sister's future among the humans. Sometimes, like now, Mynnira wished she had inherited her grandmother's gift, maybe then she would have some idea what her brother's plans were or how to stop him.

She felt a light touch on her mind and she looked up, surprised. A little girl approached her. She couldn't have been more than five summers.

"Don't cry."

Mynnira reached up and brushed away the moisture on her face. She hadn't even realized she'd been crying.

"You're not afraid of me," she said to the girl.

The little one shook her head causing her lopsided pigtails to bounce back and forth. "You have pretty colors, not like the bad man. His colors are angry."

_Colors? Ah_, she thought with sudden understanding, _the child is somewhat of a seer_. There were some among her kind that were able to 'see' other's emotions but the ability was rare. That this mostly human child had such an ability...she suddenly wondered if any of the other children here had any special talents.

"My name is Mynnira, what's yours?"

The girl seemed uncertain. "Papa says I'm not supposed to tell strangers my name."

Mynnira smiled reassuringly. "Well, I've introduced myself to you, so really we aren't strangers anymore, right?"

The girl glanced back over her shoulder towards a boy about ten summers. He nodded to her. "It's alright, she's one of us."

The girl turned back to Mynnira. "I'm Pala."

"Do you want to play a game, Pala?"

The boy came forward, interest clearly written on his face. "What kind of game?"

Mynnira closed her eyes and let herself feel hope for the first time since she had awakened that day. "With any luck this kind of game will help to free Pala and you…and all of us."


End file.
